20 years on: The cat that owned the cream

In 1991, Adam Cooper - then AUTOSPORT's world sportscar correspondent - was invited to take a first look at Jaguar's XJR-14 contender. What he found was a machine that quite literally changed the lives of nearly everyone associated with it

Twenty years ago the Jaguar XJR-14 changed the face of sportscar racing. It was such a leap forward in terms of what a two-seater racing car could be that its legacy can arguably still be seen today in the Audis and Peugeots that will race at Le Mans next month.

The car also helped to define the career of its creator, Ross Brawn. Just a few months after it first appeared he was installed by Tom Walkinshaw at Benetton. And a couple of months after that Tom and Ross head-hunted the sportscar racing rival that they really rated, a certain Michael Schumacher.